I had some other ideas today that did not work out. I went to another of Hannah Grace's swim meets but did not see a chance for a "first" there. It was 175 degrees out there today (from 10-1) and the thought did occur that I could jump in and swim alongside my daughter for a lap or two. I'd sure pick the shortest race because if I tried that 100 yard race, the lifeguard would have to come and get me. Not really, I'm confident I could make one or two laps. Especially since I remember standing at Hannah Grace's lane and cheering and seeing the numbers 3 and a half ft. painted there. I should be good there.
Hannah Grace and I were talking and it came up that I've never used emogis. She happily agreed to teach me how to do that. It was not that hard but it was definitely more fun with Hannah Grace teaching. Then, she taught me how to crop pictures so I could use some of them below from my emogiing (emoging? emogying?). Can you use that word with an ing ending?
The emogi "first" was pretty fun. It does give the texting thing some emotion. It blew me away how many of those emogi things are available. I thought there were just some smiles, but there are a lot of emogi images. Wow, who came up with all those? You can show happy faces, sad faces, thumbs up, sports emogis, hand clapping, and there was even a swimmer I found. Good night, you could spend a while just trying to find the right emogi for what you are wanting to say.
Me and my teacher
Some emogi "firsts"
Some of the more advanced people can send you emogis that are animated; have not figured that out yet. The little yellow guy below moves.
A better thumbs up guy; happy, happy, happy
So, the emogi thing was pretty fun and I'll probably use them some. I guess it is a fun way to add some humor and emotion to the texting world. As I was playing around with this (thanks to my friends who humored me), it occurred to me that we should show some emotion when we worship and talk about Jesus. I used to sit on the platform during church (I moved to the front row when I got married to sit by my wife) and occasionally that was a bummer. We would be singing songs like "When We All Get to Heaven" or "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul" or "Oh, How I Love Jesus" and some (not all) people would be singing that and look like something besides heaven was filling their souls; like maybe despair, anger, or boredom. Sometimes some people looked like they were not excited about heaven or that they loved Jesus. There were times it would be downright discouraging to the pastor. I know maybe I should not be looking around but it's hard if you are standing up on the platform facing the congregation. It is true that I don't know what was going on in some of their lives that looked disengaged; they could have received terrible news that week or something. Of course, there were always people who looked like they were truly in love with Jesus and singing straight to Him. I got to where I would just close my eyes during the musical worship and try to concentrate on Him. I still do that much of the time. It is not that we should be thinking about what our faces look like. It is more of an encouragement to truly let go and worship from the heart. If we do that, the love of Jesus will shine through your face. Jesus said in John 4:24 says, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."
When the subject of Jesus comes up, I know some people whose faces just light up. It seems apparent they love Jesus and love to talk about Him. Of course, others tend to look at their shoes or watch. Let's fall so in love with Jesus that we light up at the mention of His name. As followers of Jesus (and lovers of Jesus), let's give a bit of thought to if our faces are reflecting the love that is in our hearts.
Wanting to show the excitement of the abundant life
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. People who light up at the name of Jesus
2. Peppermints
3. Battery operated fans
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